Making a Home Sweet Home Office

Tips on how to create a productive, peaceful space to work

As a grad or seminary student, you have most likely forsaken the dorm room to live in your own place with roommates or family. Whether you are attending a school in your area or online, your home has become your primary classroom. Why not embrace the opportunity to create a unique home office? Browse Craigslist, break out the file cabinet and follow these helpful tips:

Your office should be your only office

Reserve the living room for entertainment, the kitchen for eating, the bedroom for rest and so on. Limiting your work to one room primes you to be productive in that space—and to relax when you leave. Ask your spouse, children or roommates to respect your office as well, whether it’s a whole room or just a desk.

Consider what is functional, not just fashionable

When setting up your space, place priority on where electric outlets are, what equipment you will be using the most, where you can hide cables and how the light will affect your work. Decorative aspects can follow.

Organization is a daily process

Maybe you usually jump into your work, establish a couple junk drawers and attempt to tame your mess into submission down the road. Not anymore. Establish designated drawers, shelves and activity stations from the start and stick to them.

Invest in good furniture

Buying a cheap desk and bookcase might seem like an easy answer—until the shelves are sagging and the chair snaps in half. Create a workspace you’ll be happy with in the long term, even if it costs more at first. You can also check out antique malls or secondhand stores for good deals—practical and vintage classy.

Even if you don’t feel good about the paper you wrote, you can at least feel good about what you printed it on. These are just a few eco-friendly and fair-trade options for your workspace: